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Why cloud and mobile bring growth – and new challenges – to the mainframe

Publication: Cloud Tech, 7/14/16

There is abundant evidence that prove the mainframe remains the world’s most reliable, scalable and secure computing platform today. Does the adaptability, scalability and low entry costs offered by the cloud compete for its workload?

Short answer: no. Rather, cloud has increased the mainframe workload. Cloud, mobility, and the explosion of the application economy are directly responsible for driving growth in mainframe utilization. In fact, our mainframe customers have reported an average 8% to 9% growth in their mainframe workloads.

This might seem ironic to some – the popular storyline in technology is that new technology replaces what came before it. There are two reasons why mainframe is the exception to the rule: 1) more than 70% of corporate data still resides on the mainframe and 2) the mainframe remains a spectacularly reliable, scalable, secure, and cost-effective platform. So the more that enterprises deploy cloud and mobile, the more they use their mainframes. Furthermore, according to IBM, 55% of all enterprise apps, which are mushrooming, touch the mainframe in one way or the other because if they didn’t those apps would be static, shallow and quickly abandoned.

Given this reality, here are three imperatives for every IT leader, whose company has a mainframe, to build the right foundation in the application economy.